A wheel suspension for a motor vehicle having a transverse leaf spring disposed transverse to the motor vehicle is known from the document EP 1 645 445 B1. The transverse leaf spring comprises a central region and two opposing end regions, where the transverse leaf spring is connected in the central region to a vehicle chassis via two central bearings, and in the end regions it is operatively connected to wheel carriers via end bearings.
The central bearings are each formed having two outer bearing shells that can be connected together and having insertion devices encompassed by the outer bearing shells. The insertion devices each comprise at least two layer elements having different stiffness, wherein, in the assembled state, the insertion devices are each disposed between the outer bearing shells and the transverse leaf spring.
The layer elements of the insertion devices that in the installed state face toward the transverse leaf spring and are designed with increased stiffness, are bolted together in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, both before and after the transverse leaf spring, whereby the insertion devices can be preassembled at the transverse leaf spring independently of the outer bearing shells. In addition, pretensioning forces in the region of the insertion devices can be precisely adjusted via the bolted connections. The outer bearing shells are securely connected together via a separate bolted connection, and abut each other in the region of a separation plane.
Disadvantageously, the above-described leaf spring suspension is characterized by a need for a large amount of construction space and by production complexity that is greater than desired, in the region of the central bearings in particular, since the layer elements of the insertion devices, which can be bolted together, must be implemented as solid and provided with a threading in order to receive the bolting regions and transmit the pretensioning forces. In addition, the central bearings comprise a large number of parts, thereby further increasing the need for construction space and the production costs.
A transverse leaf spring made of a fiber-plastic composite material, and a bearing mechanism for a transverse leaf spring that can be mounted in the region of a vehicle axle of a vehicle is known from WO 2008/125076 A1. To ensure that axial motions of the transverse leaf spring in the installed state in a motor vehicle can be ruled out, and to provide a microstructure of the transverse leaf spring that is not destroyed, the transverse leaf spring is formed in the region of a central fastening section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof with at least one constriction into which a force introduction element of the bearing mechanism can be inserted in a form-locking and force locking manner. The constriction is formed in the region of a surface of the transverse leaf spring, the surface normal of which is oriented substantially horizontal in the mounted state of the transverse leaf spring in a vehicle.
A disadvantage thereof is that the bearing mechanism comprises rigid bearing elements which impede movement of the transverse leaf spring in the clamped bearing region and thereby impair an overall behavior of the spring system and the overall spring action to an undesired extent.